Bay 12 Games Forum

Some kill monsters, others merely shun them. These monsters do not always hide in the sewers or wilderness, trying to get revenge on those who wronged them. Most try to hide in towns or found societies of their own. One of the largest and most successful of the latter was Lifecave. Lifecave is a city in a massive cavern, founded by three trolls, a pack of wererats, and a vampire (or similar creatures that exist in this world, if those won't work for some reason), but is one of the few communities to allow all breeds of outcasts. Jak is the son of a half-wererat and a half-elven common thief, and has inherited a slight build from his wererat grandfather and elven grandmother. He also has slightly pointed ears and teeth as well as an affinity for rats and, to a lesser extent, other animals. Mostly, though, Jak became a trader. His normal appearance--if he wore his hooded leather cloak, which he always did--and empty record allowed him free passage to the world above, without even showing up as abnormal to any but the most powerful spells. He bought goods from the surface world and sold them to those in Lifecave.


One day, the "normals" found Lifecave.
No one knows how or why, but they did.

They came flooding in through the side doors--entrances to Lifecave that lead to tombs, sewers, basements. Every "monstrous" being within was either killed or driven off. Jak was left with a few friends and allies, barely anything except his trusty old cloak and a silver dagger one of his first customers gave him for an amulet worth several times the dagger's value, a reminder of the value of knowledge in the marketplace and elsewhere. One by one, Jak's companions were hunted, until only Jak and his closest friend, Grechen, a half-goblin swordswoman, were left. Finally, even she was killed, sending Jak into a depression.

Eventually, a strange man came up to Jak and gave him a job offer he couldn't refuse. It offered a good pay, something to live for, and most importantly a place for other rejects from society to call home.